Monday, November 19, 2012

Mitsubishi Mirage officially launched – RM55k to 63k

After months of teasing and pre-launch announcements, Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia (MMM) launched the new Mitsubishi Mirage
in KL this morning. Osamu Masuko, president of Mitsubishi Motors
Corporation Japan, officiated the launch of the Thai-made compact car.
The Mirage is powered by a new 3A92 1.2 litre three-cylinder engine
with MIVEC. The DOHC three-pot unit makes 78 PS (at 6,000 rpm) and 100
Nm of torque (at 4,000 rpm), and MMM is keen to highlight the
lightweight hatchback’s 21 km/l fuel consumption measured in the New
European Driving Cycle (NEDC). That’s impressively close to what some
compact hybrids can do.
By the way, the lean and trim Mirage weighs just 825 kg, or 850 kg
for the CVT, enabling Mitsu to get away with a smaller capacity engine
for the Mirage, which is classified as an eco-car in Thailand. MMM says
that there’s no direct competitor with a similar concept in Malaysia,
but price point rivals include the Perodua Myvi and Suzuki Swift.
The base GL model comes with a five-speed manual transmission. The
self-shifting Mirage uses an INVECS-III CVT gearbox, and this can be had
in GL spec or top-of-the-range GS with all the bells and whistles. The
manual GL is priced at RM55,583, the CVT GL RM60,453 and the top-spec
CVT GS costs RM63,375. These prices are on-the-road excluding insurance.
The rest of the hardware are as expected of a car in this segment.
The suspension consists of front MacPherson struts and a rear torsion
beam, the front brakes are vented discs and the rears are drums, while
the steering is of the electric EPS variety. Speaking of steering, the
Mirage boasts a turning circle of 4.4 metres, which is best in class.
All trim levels wear 14-inch alloys with 165/65 rubber.
Features wise, the top-spec Mirage comes with quite a bit of goodies
usually associated with bigger cars. The GS gets Smart Key keyless entry
with push start button, digital automatic air-con and leather wrapped
steering wheel/gear knob.
All variants get a two-DIN Kenwood audio system with USB, iPod and
AUX interface and Bright View instrument cluster. Outside, only the GS
gets a spoiler and fog lamps. Across the board, safety features include
two airbags, ABS, EBD, ISOFIX child seat mounts and front seatbelts with
pre-tensioner.
The Mirage can be had in five colours – Lemonade Yellow Metallic,
Eisen Grey Mica, Red Metallic, White Pearl and Cool Silver Metallic. A
live example of every colour is in the gallery below.
MMM is also offering optional equipment that can be fitted at the
dealership. Buyers can add on an Aero Package (front/rear corner
extension, side sill extension, side window deflectors RM1,999), Chrome
Package (fog lamp garnish, front bumper plating garnish, tailgate
garnish, scuff plates, RM750), Ralliart fuel lid cover (RM150) and
“smart fit” leather seats (RM1,500). The green car you see here wears
all the exterior add-ons.
The visiting Masuko told us that the Mirage has been very well received in Thailand, with over 45,000 orders collected since March
this year. The Thai-made Mirage was launched in Japan in August, and
close to 12,000 orders have came in. In Malaysia, MMM has over 500
bookings on hand, 90% of which are for the top-spec GS CVT.